Want to relax by the pool? Then make pool fencing laws work for you.

Pool fencing rules and regulation save lives every day. However, as a building certifier I never cease to be surprised at the negative attitudes towards them. If you are looking for a way to get around pool fencing laws, this story is not for you.

Swimming pools accounted for 61% of all swimming deaths between the ages of 0-4 according to the 2013 National Drowning report. Despite this statistic, people are always complaining about pool fencing and trying to find ways around the regulations.

The fact of the matter is that if you want a pool you have to get your priorities right and accept what the community expects of you.

When you have a pool fence, the probability of your pool’s accessibility does not rely on your memory, habits, or current conditions. Pool fencing is ready for the unexpected and works for you all the time 24/7. That’s right, it is working for YOU!

For example:

• Pool fencing is there when you are not

• Pool fencing does not rely on your memory

• Pool fencing is there for YOU when you are:

• Having 40 winks

• Nicking down the shop

• Having a chat to the neighbour

• Dropping the kids to a movie

• Gone fishing

• Putting your feet up

• Being rushed to hospital because of an accident or sickness

• Having a barbie

• Passed out drunk

• Crook as a dog

Every day I see people trying to design a fence around a pool instead of designing the pool around the fence. With yards getting smaller and houses getting bigger, pools are being squeezed onto property sites and the fencing is coming last of all. No wonder it is such a headache.

Building a pool fence does not have to be so difficult. You don’t have to build an obtrusive fort around your pool for it to comply with safety regulations. You just have to approach construction in the right way and at the right time – by making it part of your design not an afterthought.

Pool fencing saves lives and is therefore more important than the actual pool itself. So, before you start designing your pool talk to one of our building certifier’s at Development Certification, know the rules and how they will effect the design of your pool area and keep the fence as your priority. Then you can simply drop your pool in to the plan, and all your fencing problems will simply wash away.

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I am a Director of Development Certification Pty Ltd and have been a Building Surveyor since 1989. I have a bachelor degree in building surveying and I am a qualified carpenter. I have been in the construction industry since 1981. I have a real passion for the building certification profession as I believe building certifiers are the general practitioners of the construction industry. Our role is not only to know building law and apply it, our role includes assisting in the development of the knowledge of all in the industry by sharing our knowledge and experience.